America's First Memorial To The Victims Of Lynching Opening This Spring

The first national museum dedicated to victims of lynching in America will open up in Montgomery, Alabama, next year.

In a report from AL.com, the Equal Justice Initiative (EJI) will be unveiling The National Memorial for Peace and Justice on April 26, 2018. The memorial will “feature hundreds of 6-foot tall, corten steel monuments aligned in a structure that sits above the city of Montgomery,” as well as a number of “sculptures from African and African American artists that explore slavery, segregation, and contemporary issues of racial inequality.”

“Our nation’s history of racial injustice casts a shadow across the American landscape,” EJI Director Bryan Stevenson said. “This shadow cannot be lifted until we shine the light of truth on the destructive violence that shaped our nation, traumatized people of color, and compromised our commitment to the rule of law and to equal justice.”

Alongside the memorial, the EJI plans to open The Legacy Museum: From Enslavement to Mass Incarceration. The museum will explore “slavery, lynching, segregation, and mass incarceration in America on a site where enslaved people were once warehoused.”

The memorial and museum’s location is of significance, considering both are close to an area where the most prominent slave market existed, as well as near a port and rail station that trafficked thousands of enslaved black people in the mid-19th century.

The EJI is expecting plenty of people to attend the opening of the memorial and museum, which will include educational panels, performances, concerts, and more.